City of Thorns (The Demon Queen Trials Book 1)

by C. N. Crawford

  Ice slid through my blood. Mentally, I tried to untangle the morality of this situation. I was going to help a demon imprison a king, but he wouldn’t be able to kill him. And the king had murdered his own father…really, it could be argued that I was doing the right thing. My only deep regret at this point was that this situation put Shai’s life in danger.

  I finished my coffee. “I like to think of myself as being quite skilled at finding people’s weaknesses.”

  “I believe that.” He narrowed his eyes over his coffee, and I felt the air growing hotter around us. “You know, it’s unnerving looking into the face of my worst enemy, even if you’re only a doppelgänger. It’s hard not to reach across the table, rip your heart out of your chest, and throw it into the sea.”

  Yikes. I’d definitely lost my appetite at this point. “Please try to resist the impulse.”

  “I’ll do my best.”

  I bit my lip. “Are you going to tell me what she did to you?”

  “I don’t think that’s necessary.” For a moment, I caught a glimpse of vulnerability in his pale eyes. “But I’ll do anything to get revenge. I will kill whoever I have to in order to make this happen. I have no moral code, only a burning lust for vengeance. Do you understand?” His words made my heart skip a beat, and the air burned hotter.

  Got it loud and clear. No moral code. He was a psychopath.

  He rested his arms on the table. “If this is going to work, you’ll need to know about demons and the City of Thorns. You’ll need to know a bit about what Mortana was like when she lived here, but not what she did in the past two hundred years. We’re forbidden from sharing information between demon cities. And if this plan is going to work, your friend Shai is a loose end. She could identify you.”

  I took a deep breath. He wasn’t going to suggest killing her, was he? “I’m sure she’ll agree to keep the secret.”

  “Not good enough, I’m afraid. I’ll need a blood oath from her.”

  I poured myself another cup of coffee from the carafe. “That doesn’t really seem fair to her, does it? You get information out of this. I get to live in the City of Thorns and thereby have a less pathetic life. What does Shai get for the risk she’s taking with a blood oath?”

  He shrugged slowly. “Anything can be bought. I’m sure she has a price.”

  “Do you just have unlimited money?” I asked.

  “Pretty much.”

  “Can I have a new cell phone, then? Mine was knocked out of my hands last night in the fight with the frat boys.” I raised a finger. “Oh! And I’d like my lucky pen back.”

  A smile tugged at his lips. “I just told you I have unlimited money, and that’s all you ask for?”

  “I’d like my student loans paid off, like we talked about. And to get the undergrad degree. And while I’m at it, a hundred thousand dollars.” Why not?

  “Ah, that’s more like it.”

  I stirred the cream into my coffee. “But will you need a blood oath from me?”

  He shrugged. “I’ll need a blood oath that you will keep my secret.”

  I blew out a long breath. “Okay.”

  “But just in case you don’t value your own life sufficiently—and frankly, why would you? Given how sad your life—”

  “Can you get to the point?”

  He gave me a wicked half-smile. “Please consider Shai’s life as well. I want you to do your best work for me.”

  I dropped my head into my hands, starting to get dizzy. “Do we really need to get Shai involved? I don’t want to put her in danger.”

  He gave me that you’re an idiot look again. “Then don’t fuck anything up. It’s really that simple.”

  I pulled my hands from my face. “And when this is over, Shai will be perfectly safe, right?”

  “Yes, and you should try to learn the king’s weakness as soon as possible. It’s the best way for you to keep Shai safe, and to ensure that none of the demons slaughter you. If you stay here too long, you’ll make a mistake, and then you’ll be found out and killed.”

  My chest tightened. There went my hope of staying in an apartment like this. But more importantly, if I couldn’t stay here long, I’d be kissing goodbye to my hope of finding my mom’s killer. I wasn’t going to do that overnight.

  I sighed. I’d have to find out as much as I could, I supposed. “I’ll do my best.”

  He scrubbed a hand over his jaw. “You know, you might not want to stay in Osborne after you leave. It’s too close to the City of Thorns, and you could also be in danger at that point.”

  My mind was whirling. “Well, there isn’t really much keeping me there.”

  “Yes, I did get that impression.”

  I gave him a sharp look. “But how do I know you’ll keep your end of the bargain with paying off my loans and degree?”

  “I wouldn’t expect you to take my word. You can call the loan servicing company today to confirm.”

  Holy shit. Of all the things that were happening, the most thrilling aspect of it was the idea of seventy-five thousand dollars of debt cleared in one fell swoop. No more monthly payments. No more interest. No more lifetime of debt.

  Wild euphoria rushed through me, and I grinned. “I want to be there when you pay the FedLoan Servicing people. I want to listen in. I want to hear it all.”

  I realized I was gripping his arm, and I must have looked a little maniacal because he was staring at me like I’d just announced my legs were made of ocelots. Obviously, Orion was deeply alienated from the mortal challenges of student loan interest, or he would have understood this elation immediately.

  I released my grip on his arm, still unable to believe this was happening. “Before I get too excited, can I get an idea of what would happen if King Cambriel discovered I was a fraud?”

  His eyebrows rose. “Well, let’s just say it wouldn’t be pleasant. It would be even worse than your life in Osborne, if you can imagine such a thing. Torture, a slow death in a fire, and your ashes thrown in the sea. Let’s try to avoid that.”

  A shudder rippled up my spine. But after four years of dreaming of getting within these city gates, this was my chance to find out something about Mom’s death.

  Orion stood and pulled a dagger from a sheath. Eyes twinkling, he held out his hand for mine. I rose from the table and shoved my hand toward him, and as he gripped the knife, he looked into my eyes. “I need you to repeat after me. ‘On pain of death, I swear a sacred blood oath to keep my mission a secret from other demons.’”

  I inhaled deeply, then repeated the pledge verbatim. As soon as I finished the final word of the oath, Orion tightened his grip around my hand. He drew the blade across my palm, and the sharp sting of the cut made me wince. A line of red gleamed from my skin, and my blood dripped onto the table.

  He then cut his own palm and pressed our hands together.

  I wasn’t sure if it was the sight of the blood or something about the magic of the oath, but as our hands clasped, my head swam. In my mind’s eye, I saw a crystal-clear vision: stone walls, cracked to expose a bit of the stars. Then a shadow swinging over the stone—the bloodied, swaying feet of a hanged body. Wood creaked above, and a pain pierced my heart to the core.

  Unnerved, I pulled my hand away again, and the vision cleared. I stared at Orion, my blood still dripping onto the table.

  He frowned. “What?”

  I shook my head. “Nothing. I just felt…pain.”

  He held out his hand again. “Let me heal you.”

  When I touched him again, I immediately felt his magic washing over my skin, a warm and pleasurable tingle.

  But I hadn’t been talking about the pain from the knife. I’d meant the absolutely heart-shattering sadness from the vision—the feet swinging over stone.

  Had I somehow seen into Orion’s mind? He had unfathomable darkness in him, I thought. But for now, he was my ally. And like Orion, I would do anything to get my revenge.

  Chapter 11

  Orion’s bathtub was
on a second balcony, one floor up, set into a golden marble floor. The ceiling was held up by columns, and the sun slanted in over my naked body.

  It felt completely weird to be nude out here in the light. I could say with some certainty that sun’s rays had never hit my nipples before. But when I looked out across the sea, I couldn’t see a single person out swimming or surfing. It was just me, the gently bubbling bathwater, and the sun.

  I loved it out here, but I couldn’t stay too long. I’d guess that succubi never got sunburns, and I had about ten minutes before the jig was up on that front.

  The plan for today was that I would get new clothes, and then Orion would teach me about Mortana and the City of Thorns.

  I grabbed the soap from the side of the bath and ran it over my legs, clearing off the grime from that horrible prison cell. In some ways, I couldn’t believe my luck. What I thought was the worst night of my life was now turning out to be the answer to many of my problems—assuming I could do what Orion wanted and keep Shai alive. And myself.

  Before I’d come upstairs to the bath, we’d called FedLoan Servicing together to pay off my loans. That had truly been one of the best moments of my life. I’d given my account information and PIN number, then handed the phone to Orion for him to provide his bank information. He’d passed the phone back to me so I could explain how much I was paying off—all of it. The guy on the other line had never taken a call like that, which had only delighted me more.

  But now I could turn my full attention to the City of Thorns. So far, I hadn’t seen what the city looked like, only the bright blue ocean. After so many years obsessing over this place, I would finally start to learn its secrets. As soon as we left the apartment, I was going to start collecting as much information as I could about every demon in the city, scouring the place for signs of someone with a five-pointed star on their forehead.

  When I’d washed myself completely, I rose from the bath and grabbed a soft white towel off the rack. I dried myself off, then pulled on a black bathrobe. It was quite clearly not Orion’s, as it was black silk with sheer lace sleeves and a slit up the thigh. In fact, the tag was still on it. It was La Perla—fifteen hundred dollars.

  Holy shit. Morgan had expensive taste. I yanked the tag off as I adjusted the robe. The silk felt glorious against my bare skin, and I tied the belt around my waist.

  I was so stunned by the luxury that I suddenly realized I hadn’t seen the robe arrive. My skin prickled with heat as I wondered if Orion had seen me bathing, and I swept through his guest room into the marble stairwell. When I crossed back into his living room, I found Shai there, bandaging her palm. She looked so refreshingly normal in overalls and braids, and it was a relief to see her.

  Orion was simply staring at his own hand, watching as it healed before my eyes.

  I grinned. “Shai!”

  She beamed at me. “Guess what?”

  Wrapped in the silky bathrobe, I dropped down into a cream-colored armchair. “Please tell you me bargained for something good, because he has nearly unlimited money.”

  “All my expenses at Belial are covered for as long as I want to learn, which might be for the rest of my life.”

  She was good at bargaining.

  Orion met her gaze. “And you do understand that the blood oath means you will die a horrible death by magic if you talk to anyone about Rowan’s real identity? I mean anyone besides us.”

  She wrinkled her nose. “Yeah. Got it. I won’t let anyone know she’s human or that I know her. And I honestly have no idea what all this is about, so I couldn’t let any other secrets out, even if I wanted to.”

  “Best if you know as little as possible.” His eyes gleamed. “For your own sake.”

  She gave me a tentative smile. “I have to run to my feline healing class. But text me if you can, okay? I want to know everything’s fine with…whatever you’re doing here.”

  “I’ll be fine,” I said with much more confidence than I felt.

  As she hurried out the door, Orion leaned back on the sofa. He was a prick, but with the cut of his cashmere sweater, it was hard not to notice how gloriously strong his body looked.

  “We have a week,” he began, “to prepare you for your introduction to the king. Then you will take up residence in the Asmodean Ward.”

  I took a deep breath. “Just a week? Will I be ready?”

  “The city is already abuzz with the news of the one remaining succubus. The king demanded an introduction this evening. I had to negotiate.” He frowned. “But we’ll have a lot of work to do if you plan to fool them.”

  When I crossed my legs, one bare thigh came into view from under my robe, and Orion’s gaze slid to it. The feel of my thighs rubbing against each other was also my reminder that I still wasn’t wearing underwear, which made me think about how Orion had perhaps seen me naked. And that reminded of the disturbingly pleasurable feel of Orion’s mouth on my neck, and how my body had responded to him dominating me. With those thoughts roiling in my mind, my pulse raced. I tugged down the silky bathrobe over my thigh, hoping that he couldn’t hear my pounding pulse.

  He arched an eyebrow at me. “Why is your heart racing like you’re about to die?”

  Well, there went that hope.

  I pulled the robe tight. “Did you see me naked in the bathtub?”

  His body was so still that I could feel the hair raising on my nape. Beautiful as he was, these eerie differences in body language marked him out as a predator. “Your heart races when you think of me seeing you naked?”

  His implication was bang on, but I rolled my eyes anyway. “You don’t need to phrase it like that. I was just annoyed, that’s all. Do you know that being annoyed can make your heart race? It’s the raised cortisol levels. Anger.”

  A reminder to yourself, Rowan: he is a different species with fangs, lethal magic, and eyes that turn black. Do not forget.

  “Well, you needn’t be annoyed,” he said quietly. “Morgan dropped the bathrobe off for you, plus several bags of clothes in the guest room. I’m deeply aware of how uptight mortals are with their bodies. I was alive during the Puritan days. But as Morgan is not interested in females, I thought it was fine for him to enter the bathroom.”

  I resisted the temptation to argue that I wasn’t uptight because, truth be told, I was. And I was especially uptight around Orion because he made me want to open my robe in front of him.

  I frowned and tried to change the subject. “You were alive during the Puritan days? I thought you weren’t from this region.”

  A wry smile. “There were Puritans in England, too. I knew one named Praisegod Barebones who led their parliament. In fact, when I first met you, your outfit reminded me of his clothing.”

  “Goth-Puritan is my look,” I said defensively, still clutching the robe closed.

  “You’re looking very flushed.”

  I cleared my throat. “It’s hot in here.”

  “Morgan will return soon with the rest of your new clothes. Mortana always dressed beautifully.”

  I was still holding my bathrobe together as if I’d burst into flame if he saw an extra inch of my skin. “Okay. I guess I need to start learning as much as I can about Mortana and this world.”

  “You will need to learn to appear less uptight, or you’ll end up thrown into a fire. She is a succubus.”

  I raised my chin. “I’ll do fine.” I mean, I had to. “Will I get to see the city itself today?”

  “As soon as you’re dressed. But for now, I’ll start with the background of the City of Thorns. What do you know?”

  I closed my eyes, trying to remember my history lessons. “The city gates were erected after the Infernal War in the 1680s, when the Puritans and the demons tried to murder each other in the Massachusetts woods. I always thought the point of the gates was to keep the demons in, but apparently, you can leave.”

  A hot breeze flowed into the room from the open balcony windows. “King Nergal negotiated the terms when he lost the war. Demo
ns can briefly leave the city, but our magic fades after a few days. We become vulnerable if we live outside the city. Weak, slow-moving, and dull. No better than mortals, really.” There it was—a sharp little barb delivered in a velvety tone.

  My lip curled. “Do you have to keep putting in the digs? It might get in the way of our professional relationship.”

  “You need to understand how we think. We view ourselves as superior to mortals because—” He lifted a finger to his lips like he was thinking. “Oh, because we are. Demons are smarter, faster, and more graceful. For thousands of years, you worshipped us as gods. Sacrificed to us. Livestock, sometimes even your children. We’re basically divine. Even the tedious American demons are superior to mortals.”

  I cocked my head. “And yet, here you all are, locked up behind city walls because you lost a war to us. Quite the conundrum.”

  The corner of his mouth twitched. “I’ll admit that mortals have impressive military technology, which has made it harder to compete. They developed guns and learned magic they could use to bind us here. But mostly, there are simply more of you since you reproduce like mosquitos.” He gave me a charming smile. “You infest the planet with your shrieking, yogurt-guzzling offspring, taking up more and more space every year and driving out all the other species like a plague of locusts.”

  I narrowed my eyes. “I’m fascinated that you all could lose a war to us so thoroughly, surrender so completely, and still convince yourselves of your superiority.” I smiled back at him. “Have you heard the term ‘cognitive dissonance’?”

  “In a one-on-one fight without weapons, a demon would win every time. Do you have any idea how easy it would be for me to kill you?”

  My smile faded. “Well, we have weapons now,” I said sharply.

  He arched an eyebrow, and he leaned closer. “Except you sense it, too. No mortal man has ever sexually satisfied you. Whenever I’m near you, you can feel my superiority to your men. You said I’m the only man you’d ever suspected was up to the task.” His silky voice was like a sinful caress over my skin. Now, he’d moved close enough that his mouth was next to my ear. “And I do think you’re right about that, Rowan.”